Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Alabama

Change Region

comments

Bluster on both sides, but little change one year after Alabama's new pistol permit law

concealed weapon.jpg

Although sheriffs in Alabama say they have issued pistol permits to some people under Alabama's new gun law that they would have denied in the past, they acknowledge that the numbers are small and are hard-pressed to cite examples where those permits have factored in violent incidents. (File photo)

"I'm a pro-gun sheriff. We need to get more guns into the hands of good people." -- Clarke County Sheriff Ray Norris

Opponents who warned that looser restrictions on who can get a permit to carry a concealed pistol have been hard-pressed to point to examples of a "wild West," but they contend the public would be safer if sheriffs had retained discretion.

Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith, a former president of the Sheriffs' Association who served as its point man during the debate over the pistol permit law, said sheriffs exercised their discretion judiciously – such as when an applicant had demonstrated violent tendencies or mental instability.

"There really never was an issue with denying pistol permits," he said. "Most sheriff's want you to be armed."

Smith also pointed out that those people still can carry guns openly and have them in their homes.

"When I deny them a permit, I'm not denying them the right to defend themselves," he said.

The controversial law, which mandates that sheriffs "shall" issue permits – instead of "may" issue them – turned 1 year old on Friday.

"I really don't think things have changed that much. That's what I tried to say during the heat of the debate," said state Sen. Scott Beason, a Gardendale Republican who was the law's main architect. "My feeling has always been, crimes are committed by people, not guns."

Even sheriffs acknowledge that that the change has not led to a huge increase in the number of dangerous people packing heat.

"I think it went well through the transition," said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack, the current president of the Sheriffs' Association. "It is about what we expected. In Baldwin County, we were already doing a majority of what is required."

Many sheriff's departments experienced an early surge of applications for permits to carry concealed handguns. But that appeared to level off, at least in the state's largest counties. From Aug. 1, 2013, to last week, the number of permits issued in Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, and Shelby counties increased by almost 4 percent.

The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office said it has issued 4,298 permits since the new law but could not say how many it issued the previous 12 months.

"We've issue a lot of permits, but I don't know whether it's more or less," Sheriff Billy Sharp said.

One of the biggest changes in state law limited the discretion of sheriffs to reject a pistol permit application. Under the old statute, the decision on whether to issue a conceal-carry permit rested solely with the sheriff. For example, most did not grant permits to those under the age of 21. Now, the law allows 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to apply. The law provides for limited grounds to say "no," and the sheriff's office must state a reason.

In addition, the applicant has a new right to appeal a denial to district court.

Denial rates in the counties surveyed did not change much during the first year the law was in effect, except for Madison, which saw a decrease of in the number of rejected applications from 1,158 to 332. Only a handful of people statewide have challenged a pistol permit rejection.

Dangers lurk, sheriffs say

Still, some sheriffs said they wished they still had the ability to exercise greater judgment. Mack and Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran both said they have approved pistol permit applications that they likely would have rejected in the past.

As examples, they pointed to people with multiple arrests but no convictions. Cochran said men, for instance, sometimes get arrested time and again on domestic violence charges but avoid conviction because their wives or girlfriends do not show up in court.

Mack recalled a specific instance where he approved the application of an applicant who had a felony theft conviction in another state but had his civil rights restored. Under the old rules, he said, he would have had the authority to deny the permit.

Cochran said the close calls are relatively unusual. He estimated that he has approved 12 to 18 permits under the new law that he would have rejected in the past. He said some applicants have groused over denials, but no one so far has challenged a decision in Mobile County District Court.

"We've had a few disagreements, but only a few," he said.

Most sheriffs said they could not think of a violent incident caused in the last year by a pistol permit holder who might have been denied in the past. Cochran pointed Larry Lambert Sheffield, a Mobile County constable charged with murder last month in a shooting outside a nightclub on the Causeway. He has claimed self-defense.

Sheffield's record includes past arrests on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, harassment and violating a protective order. None of those arrests resulted in felony convictions, however. Cochran said those arrests would not necessarily have led him to deny Sheffield's permit renewal. But now it is automatic.

"He had a number of arrests," Cochran said. "That is something we would have looked at closer."

One change in the law ironically may cause more people to lose their pistol permits, at least in some counties. Montgomery County Sheriff D.T. Marshall said his department previously ran background checks only on new applicants, not yearly renewals.

The law now requires criminal background checks on every permit, new and renewals. Marshall said those background checks have turned up instances in which permit holders have been convicted of crimes that prohibit them from having guns.

"There were many, many who were turned down when they came up for renewal," he said.

No qualms for some sheriffs

No every sheriff expressed reservations about looser pistol permit rules. Clarke County Sheriff Ray Norris said he favors the changes, adding that they did not affect his agency much.

"I didn't deny any unless I had a criminal reason," he said. "I'm a pro-gun sheriff. We need to get more guns into the hands of good people."

Norris said he also supports another controversial element of the law – the right of applicants younger than 21 to buy a pistol permit. Many sheriffs, barring extraordinary circumstances, refused to allow teenagers to have permits. They noted that the law prohibits people younger than 21 from buying handguns.

But Norris said, "I sold them to 18-year-olds the whole time. In my opinion, if you're old enough to tot a gun in Iraq, you're old enough to tote one here."

Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale said he, too, believes citizens allowed by law to have a gun should have a right to carry the weapon concealed. His department turned down just 30 permit applications in the year since the new law took effect. That was the same number as the previous 12-month period, even though the number of applications jumped to 61,798.

"I'm a life member of the NRA (National Rifle Association). I believe in the Second Amendment," he said. "We just never had a problem. ... "I think we do it right and we do it fair," he said.

Hale said his biggest concern is a lack of notification about people's mental health problems. When a civil commitment petition has been filed seeking to put someone in a mental health facility, the sheriff said, there should be a mechanism for notifying the law enforcement authorities so they can secure the person's weapons until those proceedings have been resolved.

"That is the key," Hale said. "We need discretion to render safe the guns and pull the pistol permit."

We want to hear from you

As part of AL.com’s examination of gun rights, we want to hear about your experiences obtaining a concealed carry permit in Alabama. Your input can help shape our reporting and identify the issues that matter most to Alabamians.